Long term mobile phone use linked to tumour

ABC Science Online

Thursday, 14 October 2004

The research into the long term health effects of mobile phones was only possible with earlier models of mobile phones (Image: Spallation Neutron Source)

People who use analog mobile phones for ten years or more are more likely to develop a benign tumour of the auditory nerve, say Swedish researchers, who can't be sure the results apply to digital phones.

"The risk of acoustic neuroma was almost doubled for persons who started to use their mobile at least 10 years prior to diagnosis," said the Karolinska Institute, one of Europe's largest medical universities which awards the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine.

"When the side of the head on which the phone was usually held was taken into consideration, we found that the risk of acoustic neuroma was almost four times higher on the same side as the phone was held and virtually normal on the other side."

There were no indications of increased risk for those who have used their mobile for less than 10 years, said the Karolinska Institute.

While non-cancerous, acoustic neuroma tumors that are not removed can grow to sizes where they put pressure on the brain and become life threatening.

The new study, by Stefan Lonn and team, was part of an international collaboration, called the INTERPHONE study, coordinated by the World Health Organization's cancer research institute IARC.

At the time when the study was conducted only analog mobile phones had been in use for more than 10 years, the Karolinska Institute said.

"Therefore we cannot determine if the results are confined to use of analog phones or if the results would be similar also after long-term use of digital (GSM) phones."

But, if confirmed, the results are expected to stimulate further experimental research.

The mobile phone market is now dominated by GSM phones, which replaced the bulkier and less advanced analog phones in many markets the mid- and late-1990s.

The mobile phone industry has said there is no scientific evidence of negative health effects from use of mobile phones.

Finland's Nokia is the world's biggest mobile phone maker. Other large producers include Motorola of the United States, South Korea's Samsung Electronics, Germany's Siemens and Swedish-Japanese joint venture Sony Ericsson.

Global mobile phone sales have been booming as thousands of new users sign up every day and existing subscribers replace their old handsets with new ones, capable of taking pictures or playing music.

The new study was funded by the European Union, the Swedish Research Council, and the International Union Against Cancer (UICC) which received funds for such studies from the mobile phone industry.

The Karolinska Institute said that provision of mobile phone industry funds to the INTERPHONE study investigators via IUCC was governed by agreements that guaranteed scientific independence.